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#1 Methane is a far more potent greenhouse gas than CO2. In my uninformed opinion, if these clathrates 'melt' and release that methane we might actually match the temperature rise that has been postulated for 'global warming'. I would suspect that such releases have happened before - perhaps due to solar patterns, perhaps due to worldwide bolide-ignited fires, perhaps due to plate tectonics. The gerbil wormists MIGHT actually be right, if we are so close to a 'tipping point' that anthropogenic CO2 emmissions are enough to initiate methane hydrate melting, and starting that feedback loop. So, to defend our climate, we must quickly extract all the methane hydrate and convert it to the less damaging gas, CO2.